


A Solangelo Story

by jtaime



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: After Blood of Olympus, BL, M/M, Relationship Developement, Solangelo Story, Story, Three Days in the Infirmary (Percy Jackson), solangelo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jtaime/pseuds/jtaime
Summary: There's just not enough Solangelo.And one-shots are not satisfying the soul.The few scenes in Trials of Apollo make it even more apparent that we need a Solangelo book.A story about what might have happened after Blood of Olympus
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

"Right", Nico said again, "But it's cool. We're cool. We're cool. I mean, I see now... you're cute, but you're not my type."

"I'm not your type... Wait. So-"

"See you around, Percy,", Nico said. "Annabeth."

She raised her hand for a high five.

Nico obliged.

\----------------------------------

Then he walked back in the direction of Will, who was looking at Percy with a confused frown. It was hard to admit it to Percy, but it was time he made peace with it. All this time he has been running away from his fear of being judged and rejected, what an idiot he was. In a way, he was glad Cupid forced him to admit his sexuality to Jason (he's still on Nico's hate list though, it was harsh being forced to come out like that). The son of Zeus was supportive, he was a good person, Nico would never admit it, but he was glad for Jason.

It's not like anyone around here could bully him. He was the creepy son of Hades, who wore an all-black outfit and an aviator jacket, also who could summon skeletal armies and suck the life out of living beings. He was the Ghost king, only a fool would get onto his bad side.

As he neared the Apollo cabin, he looked up to Will who was now looking at him.

"What did you tell Percy? Why does he look so surprised?", he asked, a curious expression on his face.

"Uh, nothing. Just, something I needed to tell him", Nico mumbled to the ground.

"Whatever", Will shrugged. "Now, are you coming to the infirmary?"

"W-what, now?", Nico stuttered.

Will rolled his eyes at him. "Perhaps you want to wait till your wounds get infected and kill you?"

Of course not. It was just sudden. Give a guy some time to get used to bossy doctors after a while of isolation. "I-"

"You know what, don't answer", Will interrupted, "Judging by your self-preservation instincts, you would even say yes"

What. Of course not. "No-"

"You can't be so careless and assume everything Nico", Will continued, a scowl on his face. "You are so skinny, all your body fat goes into being so dense about the people around you. Barely a few days you stayed in camp and you were off on your suicidal expeditions to gods know where, and I bet you thought that everyone hated you, and for what? Because your dad is Hades? That doesn't make us think you are a bad person, Nico. And look at you! What in the name of Hades happened to you? Why are your cheeks hollow?!", he yelled the last few lines.

Nico gaped at him, speechless. Was he getting scolded by Will Solace, the healer and head counselor of the Apollo cabin? The situation was ridiculous after the last few months of craziness. His cheeks? He put his fingers on his cheek self-consciously. "I-"

"Don't explain. I'm so mad at you right now. You're coming right away to the infirmary!" On that, he grabbed the wrist of a still stunned looking Nico and dragged him towards the infirmary, slapping his flip-flops loudly against the hard ground.

The situation was bizarre to Nico. No one yelled at him about his well-being since Bianca. His will to live died with his sister. Yet here he was, after even more horrors, being dragged by a pretty healer to get his cheeks de-hollowed, and oh, his wounds treated too.

Nico stumbled on the rocks that Will stepped over, causing him to look down, first at the ground, and then where Will's hand held his. The difference in their skin tone was significant. Will's arm and a bit of his neck peaking from above his shirt color were tanned as if he stayed most of his time under the sun, with freckles sprayed across his skin like someone flicked the bristles of an old toothbrush. A shock of messy golden blond hair sat on his head, the sun making it look even brighter.

Nico had never been to the infirmary in the brief time he stayed in camp. The building sat a short distance from the practice arena, surrounded by trees and bushes. It was 3 storeys high, painted a light shade of brown, with rows of windows on most walls. On the 2nd storey, a decorative sun was engraved on the center of the outer wall, signifying Apollo. The double doors of the infirmary were wide open, displaying the hustle inside. As they walked into the ground floor, Nico saw two halves of the same sun symbol as on the wall, on either door. Inside the building, beds were lined up against the walls, all of them separated with blue curtains on all other three sides. Doctors with similar green surgeon's shirts bustled among the patients, jotting down into their clipboards furiously. He could tell most were filled seeing the doctors moving in and out of the curtains.

On their immediate left was a staircase and lift to the upper floors. At the far side of the room, a door stood open, revealing a desk and racks of medical supplies. It had the words 'OFFICE' written on a nameplate.

Will continued to pull him along the rows of the beds, further into the room. Along the way, he caught glimpses of the patients through the curtains. Some were fast asleep with IV drips in their arms, some patients had doctors examining them while they explained animatedly about something. Possibly how heroically they received their wounds.

Will dragged him to the last bed on the right corner of the room, right beside the office, and pushed the curtains aside to let him in. Inside was a bed, a wooden stool, and a side table, with a lamp and a box of tissues on top of it. A window sat above the bed, blue curtains pulled apart and swaying from the breeze, providing a view of the arena, a few cabins, and the forest at a distance. The sheets on the bed were white, the sunlight from the window highlighting the creases and dull stains from previous uses. A thin blue blanket that would barely keep him warm lay on the end of the bed, the pillow cover matching the blanket.

"Get on the bed", Will nudged him.

Nico walked past Will and gingerly sat on the cot, firm but comfortable enough. A cool breeze swept along his side, caressing his skin.

"I'm going to do an over-all check-up to see if there's anything that requires immediate attention. Okay?"

"Okay", Nico nodded obediently, not wanting to do anything that will earn him another lecture.

"Good. Now I'm going to hold your hands to check your vitals, okay?"

"Okay", Nico extended his arms to Will. Butterflies reappearing on the gentle grasp.

Will furrowed his brows in concentration and his lips made a slight pout. Nico hadn't noticed till now, but Will had full luscious lips, his nose was long and pointy, shades of blue swirled in his eyes, fully visible through his short eyelashes. His hair was disheveled as if he had no time to tend to it, blond strands fell on his forehead and stuck up in the back, the sunlight giving them a glossy look.

"Like what you see?", a voice cut through his inspection. Nico blinked his eyes and saw a smirking Will.

Embarrassed, he quickly looked down, his face heating up. Stupid Nico! Don't stare at him like that!

"I don't like what I'm sensing", Will spoke, his face serious again, "You have severe malnutrition, though it's obvious by the state of you", Nico blushed and pulled the sleeve of his black t-shirt subconsciously, "Multiple deficiencies, lack of rest, depression, PTSD", Will's frown returned, "Take your shirt off".

"W-What?", Nico stammered.

"Take your shirt off", he repeatedly simply, "I have to check for any wounds, I'm sure you'll have at least a few. It wasn't a simple task you did, bringing a 50ft statue across half the world. That severely depleted your energy. And I can only imagine what else happened on the way back", Will shook his head, "Take it off".

Praying that this physical examination would end quickly, Nico shyly pulled his t-shirt off and set it beside him. He hunched forward slightly, attempting to cover himself, and looked up. Will had a blank expression on his face, though the way he pressed his lips together said he wasn't happy with what he saw. No surprise there. He was aware of his ribs outlining his skin, and his stomach pulled in. He had old and new gashes from the battle.

Will pointed at the wounds on Nico's arms, "Where did you get these?", he asked.

"Werewolf attack", Nico muttered, wishing he could cover his arms.

"They look infected. I'm going to check, Okay?", Will asked gently.

Nico nodded yes. Was Will being careful not to scare him? Was that why he was asking permission every time? He didn't when he dragged him to the infirmary, though. Nevertheless, Nico appreciated it. Even if it was to heal him, he didn't want anyone touching him.

"Yep, they are infected. I'm going to get a few medicines and bandages. Stay right here", Will shot him a warning look as if saying Don't you dare move from there or I'll hunt you down and drag you back here and left.

Nico waited patiently for Will to come back, examining his surroundings. There was a number engraved on the wooden headboard of his bed 40, patient number, he guessed. Inside the side drawer were a few comics and a plain black sleeping eye mask.

Will come back in a minute, cradling in his arms rolls of bandage, a few bottles and medicine strips, and a plastic water bottle. He set the water bottle on the side table and emptied the other contents on the bed.

"I'm going to disinfect the wounds first, might sting a bit", Will said, "I'll bandage all the bigger wounds, those werewolf marks look nasty. And make sure you don't get the bandages wet. I'll give you medicine for the pain"

"I don't need pills, the pain doesn't bother me", Nico said. No physical wounds bothered him anymore, these gashes were petty. Heck, he crawled through Tartarus.

"Yeah yeah, they don't", Will nodded, "But you're my patient, so you'll do as I say. Take the pain pills. Doctor's orders", and set to tending his wounds.

"Do people actually listen to you when you say that?", Nico smirked.

"Yes, di Angelo. Unless they want to talk in Ballads for a week", Will smirked back.

Ah. Nico heard about this. Apparently, because Apollo is the God of music, his children can curse people to talk in poems for a while. He imagined trying to ask for something to eat and instead saying 'Give me food, and I won't brood!'. Nico cringed, he was good without poetry in his life, thank you.

Will smirked as if he knew what Nico was thinking.

After quickly tending to the wounds on his upper body, Will demanded him to take his pants off, threatening to tear them off when Nico refused. After a few more threats and a promise to curse him if he didn't follow instructions. Nico grudgingly obliged, but only after putting his shirt on. He shuddered at the thought of sitting in nothing but his underwear in front of Will.

"There, all done. Take your undies off too", Will said, holding a ball of cotton dipped in antiseptic.

Nico looked at him mortified, "No Solace! I don't have any wounds under them, I won't take them off", he said firmly and hastily pulled his jeans back on, before Will forced him to take his underwear off.

"Fine then", Will handed him a few pills, "Take these and go straight to sleep".

"I'm not sleepy", Nico protested.

"These pills will make you drowsy. Now get onto the bed", Will said.

Nico put the pills in his mouth and quickly gulped water from the water bottle. And settled back against the pillow.

Will tucked him in and closed the windows, blocking most of the sunlight. Maybe it was the drugs, but his body was starting to feel heavy. The fatigue of the last couple of months seemed to weight on him all at once, forcing him to close his eyes and slip into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico was in semiconsciousness, slowly coming out of the drug-induced sleep. Surprisingly he felt better rested than he ever did in years. Probably using the drugs was good for him. He was also conscious enough to note that he didn't have any night terrors or patchy sleep. Nico braced himself for the feeling of dread that sets into him every time he woke up. The fear of where he was and what horrors he had to face that day always sat heavily on his heart for a few minutes. Every day he had to force himself to wake up anyways, cause he had a duty and he couldn't fail. 

That was when the reality set in him. The war with Gaea was over, they had won, he was going to stay in Camp Half-Blood, he didn't have to go on a suicidal mission today. Nico, now awake from the realization, kept his eyes closed, trying to hold back the emotions threatening to take over. Several emotions surged in him at once, the constant terror, misery, self-hate, self-pity, exhaustion of the years engulfing him like a tidal wave. 

He laid there on the bed for a while, maybe minutes or could be hours, he just lay there till he was composed enough. 

Nico opened his eyes, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Oh, right, the infirmary. Will Solace. Nico's heart fluttered at yesterday’s memory, the blonde scolding him and dragging him to the infirmary. He wondered where Will was?

Nico looked behind him and pulled the curtains apart and was surprised to see that the sun was setting in the distance. He could see campers chatting animatedly among themselves with their helmets tucked under their arms, making their way back towards the cabins. The sky around the sun was warm red. A light breeze ruffled the trees of the forest. How long was he asleep? 

Someone had put a rug over him, maybe Will. Just as he was thinking of going and looking for Will, the blonde came in, pushing aside the curtains. A bright smile appeared on his face on looking at Nico. 

"You're finally awake", he noted.

"How long was I sleeping?"

"You were out all day. I thought of waking you up so you could eat something, but I thought you needed the sleep. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah"

"Good. Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat", Will offered.

"I'm not hungry"

"You haven't had anything all day. I'll get you something to eat. You will eat. Doctor's Order", he announced.

Nico scowled at him, "You can't boss me around, Solace".

"I'm not bossing you around. As your doctor, it is my duty to make sure you don't pass out from lack of food. So for your own good you'll do as I say, di Angelo".

"You're technically not a doctor", Nico mumbled.

"Enough of one to treat you", Will said and turned around and walked out of the curtains. He's so bossy. Thinks he can get everyone to do everything he says with his stupid smile and that messy blonde hair and soft blue eyes. And 'doctor's orders'? Is that his catchphrase or what? Stupid Will and his stupid face and his stupid way of talking.

Will came back a few minutes later, balancing a large plate and two glasses in both his hands. He set the plate down in front of Nico, put the glasses on the side table, and said, "Eat".

"Holy Hades, Will. Why did you bring so much food?". Will seemed to have put everything that stayed on the plate without falling off. There was a burger, sandwiches, pancakes, noodles to the side with a sunny-side-up, tacos crammed in the corner and all types of vegetables fitted and crammed into whatever space was left. 

Will rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I didn't know what you liked to eat", he said.

"You could have asked"

"You would say you didn't want to eat anything"

"True"

"I brought some juice and soda too", Will pointed at the two glasses.

"Uh, thanks"

Will got onto the bed and sat down crossed legged in front of Nico.

"Don't you have other patients to treat?", Nico asked.

"Nope. My shift is over"

"Then why are you still here?"

"I came to check up on you and I don't have anything better to do. Besides, I have a soft spot for cute Italians", Will winked at him.

Nico blushed and glared at him, "Shut up Solace. I'm not cute".

"Fine, you're not. Eat now"

They sat in silence as Nico ate. Will staring outside the window and occasionally chiding Nico to eat more. It wasn't long before Nico pushed his plate away and announced that he was done.

Will frowned at the plate, "You barely at anything Nico. Everything I brought is exactly the way it is", he continued before Nico could answer, "It's fine. We'll work on your appetite slowly".

Nico waited while Will put the dishes away and came back, "So what do you want to do now Death boy? Do you want to sleep or do something else?"

Nico growled, "Don't call me that"

Will was unaffected. He tilted his head and said, "Cute".

Nico stared at him. "Cute? I can literally kill you without moving an inch, Solace. I can make your body wither and melt into the ground. I'm not cute"

"You'll be dead long before you cause me wrinkles, di Angelo. Sit back", Will countered. When did he lean forward? Nico sat back surprised that Will was unaffected. Usually, people ran screaming, in the opposite direction if they faced his glare.

"Do you want me to get you something to pass your time? Do you read?", Will continued.

"Yeah, used to", Nico answered.

"I'll get you a book. Oh, wait. You and your sister were in that time slowing hotel for 70 years, right? Then you probably haven't heard about a lot of amazing books and movies that got released in that period. A lot happened in the last 100 years. Or, you've been away from camp for so long, you can tell me where you've been and everything that happened", Will paused, looking at Nico expectantly.

"None of your business, Solace". Nico was grateful that Will wasn't behaving like he was something delicate and all that drama. Emotional confessions and crying in his arms over his past quests. Urgh, no.

"Fine. You should tell me someday though", Will continued, unfazed, "I've been curious for so long. I wondered many times where you were. You were such a curious kid the find time you came to camp", he chuckled, "Wouldn't stop asking questions"

Just like that his evening passed. Will Solace not shutting up. Nico telling him to shut up. Will Solace not minding him and continuing to not shut up. Nico glaring and replying with not more than 5 words at most. Will Solace nevertheless continuing to not shut up.

The next 2 days passed by similarly. Will bought him a couple of books to read and a couple of toys to fiddle with. And Nico spent his time reading, and despite his denial of needing any of the stupid toys, he constantly fidgeted with them all the time.

Will dropped by him whenever he could during his shifts and stayed with him afterward and only left after putting Nico to sleep. His 5-word limit became 7-words and the rate of telling Will to shut up went down a bit. 

Will didn't give him any time to think about anything else. He filled Nico's brain with every topic that came to his mind, by the end of the day, Nico knew how every other patient was doing, how Will had put all the bandages neatly away after Kayla accidentally knocked them all down, and a lot of other random pieces of information about why the sky was blue to who Halsey was. Every night before Nico fell asleep, he made sure to give the brunet the same pills he gave him the first day, so he slept peacefully.

And in what felt like the blink of an eye, 3 days flew by, and he decided he didn't hate Will Solace's company. And in the 3 days, Nico was sure he was developing a crush on the blonde.

After Will tucked him into bed the 3rd day night, he bent down and kissed Nico on the cheek, earning a scowl and a red face from the Italian. As expected from Will, he laughed at Nico instead of withering in fear.

"Goodnight, Grumpy"

Nico closed his eyes as the drugs set in, wishing he didn't have to leave tomorrow. Will hadn't said anything about him being allowed to leave, so maybe he could stay. Would it be too weird to visit him on the first day out of the infirmary?

With such thought in his mind, Nico slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep.


End file.
